Female graduate student decision-making and graduate student loan debt

The purpose of this study is to examine factors that influence a woman's decisions to incur graduate student loan debt. This study incorporates qualitative research methods and Gilligan's (1977) theory on women's moral development to interpret an existing data set. Data collected from 50 female graduate students pursuing a master's degree in the disciplines of education and health sciences were coded and analyzed. The findings revealed: (a) women rely on support from others when making decisions (b) women are not concerned with the details of their loan obligations (c) women do not factor in future earning potential when deciding to incur graduate debt. The following implications for practice were identified: (a) women must take into consideration that the advice they receive may be influenced by an individual's perception of a woman's role within society (b) women need to be encouraged to pursue majors with high earning potential (c) women should be empowered to understand the full scope of their loan obligations (d) women must be informed of the earning potential for their selected disciplines. Future research that will build upon the findings include: (a) examining factors that influence men to incur student loan debt, and determining if they are pushed to select careers based on interests or earning potential, (b) analyzing whether expected societal roles influence the advice that females receive when incurring graduate debt, (c) examining the decision-making process of women that enter majors in the social sciences, engineering, computer sciences.